


Almost Legal

by Mix Stitch (Synph)



Category: Marvel
Genre: College, M/M, Pre-Canon, Pre-Slash, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-26
Updated: 2012-10-26
Packaged: 2017-11-17 02:47:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/546803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Synph/pseuds/Mix%20Stitch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony is almost eighteen. That should count for something right?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Almost Legal

Tony Stark spends the hours leading up to his eighteenth birthday doing body shots off the well-toned chest and stomach of one of the lifeguards at the hotel where he has been staying for the first week of his summer break away from MIT.

This is Puerto Rico after all, and the drinking age is eighteen. In a couple of hours, Tony will actually  _be_  eighteen instead of almost-eighteen, but no one at the hotel has bothered to look beyond the name on the credit card. It’s like Tony’s birthday has come early and he intends to celebrate until he forgets his own damn name.

Unfortunately, Tony’s best plans rarely see it through to the end.

A heavy hand lands on Tony’s shoulder a second after he finishes slurping up a line of salt from over the lifeguard’s stomach and turns him away from the bar. “I think you’ve had enough for the night, Tony.”

“Aww, come on, Rhodey,” Tony says in a tone that’s definitely him whining and makes to turn away from his best friend’s tight grip on his shoulder, “It’s my birthday and I want to drink.” He glances back and forth between the still-reclining lifeguard with his salt-smeared chest and his best friend as though he doesn’t want to choose between them.

Rhodey shakes his head. “Your birthday isn’t until tomorrow,” he says, leaning in so that his soft lips brush the shell of Tony’s right ear. It’s a matter of necessity if Tony is to hear anything that he says, but it still comes off as terribly intimate. “If you keep drinking tonight, you’re going to have a nasty hangover all day. Let’s go back to the hotel.” Rhodey shifts his grip on Tony’s arm so that instead of gripping the younger man’s shoulder, he’s loosely holding his best friend’s hand and his long brown fingers rub over the calluses that he finds. In the close-packed club, no one had looked twice at Tony as he licked salt off a half-naked man’s stomach and now—

No one looks at Tony as Rhodey holds his hand as though they’re going steady and starts to pull him through the press of the crowd around them.

“Can I drink at the hotel?” Tony asks as he tries to keep up with Rhodey’s longer strides. He keeps asking questions, shouting above the noise of the music pumping through the club. “Or will you let me open my presents when we get back? It’s almost midnight so it counts.”

Rhodey rolls his dark eyes even though Tony can’t see him do it. “You’re turning eighteen, Tony,” he says once they’re finally out of the club and can talk without shouting at each other to be heard. “I really don’t think presents are something you’re supposed to care about at your age.”

Tony blows a raspberry at Rhodey and then digs his heels into the loamy earth between the club’s exit and the sidewalk, forcing the other man to stop walking lest he drag Tony behind him. “Come  _on_ ,” Tony says, dragging out the syllables as he tugs Rhodey back until they’re standing toe to toe on the dirt. “Why can’t I know what you got me? I just want a hint.” Tony pouts as though he’s turning eight instead of eighteen and then puts his hands on his hips. “It’s almost midnight you know!”

Rhodey shrugs his shoulders and tries not to focus on how warm Tony’s hand feels in his own. “And?”

“I’m almost legal,” Tony says as he looks up at Rhodey with his eyes widened purposefully. “I just want my gift.” He frowns for a second and then his tongue flicks out to wet his lips. “Unless you  _can’t_  give me my gift in public.” A smile appears on Tony’s face and it’s wicked enough to make Rhodey think twice about bringing up Puerto Rico as a summer destination. “You know what… Maybe I  _will_  wait until we get back to the hotel.”

Tony grins and then starts to walk in the direction of their hotel, leaving Rhodey behind to gape at him and wonder how everything has gone so spectacularly off course.

“Get back here, Tony,” Rhodey calls out, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but it’s not that. Tony!” He has to jog a bit to catch up with his best friend and then he curls his fingers around the other man’s wrist so that they can’t get separated. “If you want your gift so badly, I’ll give it to you when you get home. Just… shut up about it until then. Okay?”

Tony gives Rhodey a glimpse at his real smile —the one that he saves for his real friends instead of the clamoring public— and touches his tongue to the center of his top lip. “I can’t make any promises.”


End file.
